Review Of Sewing Pattern Simplicity 2442 By Karen Rigg From WillowWears.com
Last month we had our Simplicity Sewing Pattern 1699 road-tested for us by fabulous dressmaker Karen Rigg from WillowWears.com. We had sent her a couple of patterns free of charge to stitch up for us and this week I have her final review for us. This week's review is of the beautiful sewing pattern Simplicity 2442.
This collage below shows you some photos of the dress before it was finished and it also shows the pattern variations available in the pattern pack.
Karen chose the Karen Z designed pattern as she thought it was a stylish dress pattern that she fancied having a go at making. She was going to treat her daughter to a new evening dress from this pattern so she allowed her to pick which style of dress she would like custom made for her. :o) Her daughter picked one of the most fashionable variations from this pattern pack, the halter neck dress with puffball skirt. It is a very youthful design that is perfectly suited to a girl of her daughter's age.
It was decided that the dress would be made from a sumptuous dusky mauve coloured crepe backed satin material and there was the addition of some fancy embellishment to the bodice in the form of some fancy trim. Karen has commented in her review that she "...had realised early on there was no messing with this satin, no unpicking a million times as I normally do (slight exaggeration)...". She then went on to say "...The satin is divine but I have to admit that I can’t wait to move on to a fabric that can be well-handled without growing a fringe."
I myself have tried sewing with satin when I made some wedding bunting and I know exactly what Karen means about it fraying. It is a hard fabric to sew and to be honest I would only sew with it for a special occasion dress such as this. The hard work most definitely does pay off though ...as we can see from Karen's creation that looks like an absolute gem of a dress. Her daughter is hoping to wear her beautiful new dress very soon when she goes out for the evening onboard a family cruise which they are all going on to celebrate her dad's birthday.
If the dress still fits her next year this might be worn as her prom dress but as Karen has already said ....she "will probably have made another one by then!" To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if she has made another fancy frock in time for next year's prom, with all the amazing sewing patterns available at the moment it would be a shame not to make lots more pretty dresses. Afterall....a girl can NEVER have too many dresses in their wardrobe! :o)
You can read the full review of the pattern over on the WillowWears blog. Here is the link you need - http://willowwears.com/2013/07/16/something-rather-special-4/
You can also see a review of it by Karen on the Pattern Review website. Here is the link - http://sewing.patternreview.com/review/pattern/88865 Make sure to check out her other reviews while you are there!
The Simplicity sewing pattern 2442 costs £8.15 and it has patterns for a ladies dress in three lengths with bodice variations and a bolero. It is available in sizes 6-14 and 14-22. The dress made by Karen was a size 6 on the bodice and a size 8 on the skirt but then both pieces were further altered during fitting. Karen found that the bodice section came up quite large but the skirt section came up quite small. If you decide to purchase and make this dress,you may want to bear this in mind when cutting our your pattern pieces. She says that she found the instructions very easy to understand and follow which is great to hear. I love it when patterns make it simple for you to get your head round how to construct your handmade creation.
If you are on twitter or facebook please pop over and follow Karen. she always posts updates of her latest makes and she is a lovely lady to chat to about sewing. She knows so much and is always stitching something new. I promise you will love to see the projects she makes. She only just finished this dress at the end of the week and over the weekend she made the most of the sunshine and sat in the garden cutting out the pattern pieces for her next project - Simplicity K1913. Go Karen! Keep up the sewing!
Best wishes, Kim